Title

Save files default format as backward compatible, not as XML. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

By default, Office 2007 producst save new workbooks in the Office Open XML format. For users who run prior versions of Office products, Microsoft offers the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, which enables these versions to open and save open XML format. If some users in your organization cannot install the Compatibility Pack, or are running other versions of Office products these users might not be able to access Excel files saved in the Open XML format.

Check Content

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office Word 2007 -> Word Options -> Save "save files in this format" will be set to “Enabled (Word 97 - 2003 Document (*.doc)) or "Enabled (Word Document (.docx))”. Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key: HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Options Criteria: If the value DefaultFormat is REG_SZ = doc for Word 97 - 2003 .doc or If the value DefaultFormat is REG_SZ = (blank) for Word 2007 .docx, this is not a finding.

Fix Text

The policy value for User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Microsoft Office Word 2007 -> Word Options -> Save “save files in this format” will be set to “Enabled (Word 97 - 2003 Document (*.doc)) or "Enabled (Word Document (.docx))”.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-18608r1_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-17521

Group Title:

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.